Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?
This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.
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Notes -
All parenting is by guess and by golly.
If you're doing any kind of pump/bottle feeding, make liberal use of the dishwasher and don't bother with hand washing. The oven at 250 for 20 minutes can remove most smells from silicone, including dishwasher soap.
Read books, lots of books, but the actual reading will be mostly after the first year. Until then it's shapes and contrast and colors. Repetition is king.
Take pictures, take notes. Babies change week to week, month to month. Tell stories to your wife, to your family, about the mundanities.
Baby food is overrated. By 6 months they can eat bananas and blueberries (squished), and most of the purees aren't worth much. There are silicone chew pops with holes that work well for fruits, frozen or otherwise, that let them taste without worrying about choking. A baked sweet potato is practically a puree anyway. Most nutrition is from breast milk until a year anyway.
Have a white noise machine. I like the hatch, but a simple dumb noise machine works fine. Sing to your child. Nursery rhymes, poems, simple songs, folk songs, and the stuff you might have learned in elementary school. Make up dumb rhyming or rhythmic phrases to entertain.
Again for after the first year, but get a membership at a local zoo or aquarium or similar, and then go regularly. Outdoor time is wonderful.
If you can run a hose from an indoor faucet, you can deliver bath water to a splash pad for fun even when the weather is cool.
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